Moonbeams
by Alex Gailson
Summary: This story takes place 50 years after the end of Breaking Dawn. No, there are no flying cars and road warriors, just the world as it's always been. From Bella's point of view in past tense, talking to Charlie about the events of the past year.
1. Chapter 1: Return

~Bella~

I stare up into the cloudy, dreary sky as I slowly make my way through the place that I hated to visit the most. Not only because I'm concerned that someone from my former life might see me, wanting me to explain why I still looked like a 19 year old teenager, but because of the memories that cloud my mind with every step I take. As I walk down the small, two-way streets of Forks, Washington, I see Newton's Hardware Store where I used to work, my old High School, the small diner where Charlie and I used to go out for food instead of me making his food. He always was a terrible cook. All these landmarks that were once a part of my life now only seemed like shadows on the wall, cast by a dying flame.

I continue to walk down the street, feeling the piercing eyes of every human that crossed my path, gawking at the strange woman they had never seen in their town before. It's only a matter of time before someone notices me. But how could they? I only came back once every few years. Almost all my friends from when I was human were either's dead, moved away, or to wrapped up in there own family life to notice trivial things like the reanimated corpse of a former friend gliding down the street. Even after 50 years of being a vampire I still never got used to being beautiful, although it did get easier to deal with people who stared, but aleast I don't have to worry about the sun. One of the best parts about Forks: it's constantly shrouded in a vial of cloud covering, which is a good thing for me. It's hard enough walking around looking like I do- pale, white skin, bright golden eyes, seemingly perfect stride- it's another thing entirely to try to explain to onlookers why my skin sparkles brilliantly in the sunlight.

Every time I come here, I get the urge to dwell on my surroundings, to take everything in for a moment, telling myself that it is the last time I would do it. I quickly stomp out those feelings for the sack of doing what I came here to do in the first place. It has been over 30 years since Edward and I lived in the tiny two bedroom cabin just outside of town. After Charlie's death, my other family and I decided that it would be to risky to stay any longer, so we all decided to move to New York, then a small city in Canada, then finally resting in Alaska, taking residence in a house not to far away from the Cullen's sister clan in Denali. We started high school, pretending to be freshmen that had been left back a grade. To be perfectly honest, it didn't really matter where we went, so long as I have my loving husband Edward and our breath-taking daughter Renesmee, or Nessie.

I diverge from the main road to enter into the park, heading towards the wright iron gates of the town cemetery. I slowly make my way to the very back, coming to a tallest tomb stone in the graveyard. Courtesy of Edward, the tombstone was built from white marble with golden engagement and angel designs. I stand in front of it for a brief minute before falling to my knees, the ground beneath me indenting from the density of my body. Every part of me wanted to brake down. I can feel the deep pressure in my gut swell up as my mind cries out in pain, yet my body refuses to respond. If have ever missed anything about being a human, it's the ability to cry. It's strange, when I was first turned, I might have of that as a check in the 'Pro Vampire' column. (Edward being the first on the list.) Even all these years, the sting of death still burns me deep down. I look down and read from the plaque.

"…Charles Swan…Decorated Police Chief. Father. Husband."

My eyes start to burn a little, but nothing comes out. "Sorry that I'm late Charlie…I know I'm only a week late, but you always told me about being on time." The words were almost forced as I try to say the right thing to say. I could only guess what Charlie would say to me now. Something along the lines of not beating myself up, it was more his fault, that I need to stop apologizing for everything. What I wouldn't give to hear him this deep toned voice lecturing me again. At this point I would even be happy reliving the awkward sex talk that he forced out of me the first time he found out about Edward. The image of Charlie holding his shotgun in his hand as he walked in on Edward and I sitting, apparently, too close on the couch appeared in my head. I allow myself a quick laugh under my breath before looking back to the plaque. I look to the engravement next to his name, which writes 'Sue Clearwater'. "You too, Sue, sorry I'm late. Seth and Leah send thier love."

"Anyway, we've all had a pretty busy year. We moved up to Alaska and started High School again. Edward, Alice, Jasper, Nessie, and I enrolled as freshmen, held back of course. Rosalie and Emmet are sophomores." A small smile creeps across my face. "People at the school are already talking about how much Renesmee looks like me and Edward, even though we're all supposed to be unrelated. Crazy rumor flying around, I swear, sometimes I wonder why I even go back there. But I'm getting off topic..." How do I say this?

"I should tell you why it's been such a hectic year. You see…you have a grandson now." I try to fight back a smile that was trying to emerge from the corner of my lips through the sorrow. "Well…adopted grandson actually. His name is Vincent. He reminds me a lot of you. Want to hear how it all happened?" I allow a brief moment of silence, as if expecting a response from the pale white stone. "Good. Hopefully when you hear it you won't get mad at me for being late." I try to smile.


	2. Chapter 2: Starting Over

When people say 'forever', I don't think they really understand what they are really saying. 'We'll be together, forever." "I've been waiting forever." I remember how I used to use that word without even a second thought to what it really meant. But now, I understand things a little better. Second turn to minute; minutes into hours then days, weeks, mouths, years. After so long standing still as the world decayed around me, I started to understand the truth. That there is no such thing as forever. That time is the only constant, never ending, never failing. I started to understand why it was so easy for other vampires to give into there instincts and treat every second like it was their last. I, myself, found it almost liberating to lose hope in everything from time to time. If I can attribute anything to my sanity over all these years, it would defiantly be my family. I don't know where I would be without them.

It all started in late September, just before the start of a new school year. The images of that day, and really every day since my rebirth, played like a video in my head. It was, in a sense, both a gift and a curse to have such memories. Outside the window I could hear the subtle sound of the birds chirping as they preen the morning dew from their feathers, the sound of the tiny water droplets hitting the bark of the tree with loud, at least for me, splashes. Beyond this layer of sound I heeded the sound snow slowly turning to water under the morning glow of the sun. These sounds, however, grew distant as another noise caught my attention. It was the faint sound of snow crunching under the feet of someone heavy, yet agile enough to glide across the frozen landscape with incredible speed. I instantly recognized the sweet scent of lavender hand lotion and strawberry hair conditioner, which in the end did nothing to cover up another, more fowl scent that covered the individual.

I quickly dismissed all audible sound and tried instead to concentrate on the warm, or at least warm from my perspective, presence that was holding me in his arms. I stared into the pair of beautiful, topaz eyes that had been staring into mine all night. I could spend my entire life staring into those eyes, which I have every intention of doing. His warm hand slowly glided up my rib cage, then to my neck, and finally resting on my face. He slowly began to trace the outline of my face, letting his fingers run along the perimeter my lips. If my heart still had the ability to beat, it would be pounding away a mile a minute.

I smiled over at him, retracting the shield that encased my mind so that he could read my thoughts. After so many year of practice, what once seemed like a Herculean task was now like second nature to me. Sometimes it was nice to just let Edward read my thoughts, rather than trying to explain exactly how I felt. It was more personal like this, more intimate. The corner of his mouth tightened to form that crocked smile that I had always adored.

I tilted my head to the side. "Care to share with the class? What's so funny?"

Edward shook his head slightly as he continued to smirk. "I'm thinking that you should be less focused on me right now and more concerned about the fact that Nessie has once again successfully snuck out…"

The name Nessie was originally Jacob's idea, and although in the beginning I hated it, over the year, much like everything else, it became second nature to address her like that.

I felt a wide smile make it's way across my face, flashing my brilliant white teeth. "Yeah, sorry if I distracted you from keeping an eye on her. I guess I'm partly responsible for that."

"That's not it, Bella. She's the one who sneaks out when we're both the most…distracted. If anyone can be blamed it's that mutt of hers."

"Not this again Edward. We've had this conversation a thousand times and every time we both come to the same conclusion. They're love each other and asking her to stop seeing him would be just as cruel as if Charlie had forbidden me from seeing you all together. Not to mention, technically, Jake is following your own absurd rule about never entering the general area under any circumstance. So you really have nothing to complain about."

"Ohh, I'm going to have to disagree with you on that. There is plenty to complain about. First of all, it's not an absurd rule because not only are they not married, but also have no intension of getting married. Second, that rule isn't just me being an overprotective father who doesn't want his daughter date till she's married. The whole thing is more for his benefit then Renesmee. If he were to hang out around me for too long, I know for a fact where his mind will go. Right into the gutter."

I winked at him playfully. "You're such a considerate being, you know that?."

"And third, if he really cared about her well being, he wouldn't be putting her in this kind of situation. She is, after all, part human and needs her sleep. And I'm not even going to discuss the fact that they are-"

Edward stopped himself. Even though I didn't mind the fact that Jacob had set up residence a few miles away from the house, careful to build it out of range of Edwards talent, neither one of us were ecstatic about the fact that our daughter was a grown woman. To me she still looked like the same sweet and innocent little girl who adored climbed up onto Jake's back and rode around while hunting, laughing and giggling without a care in the world. It would be nice to have that same, carefree little girl back in our house, without worrying about her running off in the middle of the night to do God knows what. Even though she was forever suspended in the body of a eighteen-year-old teenager, she had technically been alive for over fifty years old. We first discovered everything about ten years ago, when we were still living in Canada. We were all spending time together in the living room when Jacob walked in the front door, to which Nessie jumped out of her seat and ran to his side. Nessie always found a way to hide what she was really thinking from her father, but Jacob on the other hand…lets just say his mind wasn't as silent about private matters. What ever it was that Edward heard or saw that day in Jake's head sent him into a blind rage. It took Alice, Emmett, and Carlisle to hold Edward back long enough for Jacob to escape out the front door. Ever sense that, Edward never allowed Jacob to set foot in the house or anywhere where he could hear his thoughts, not to mention how he kept an annoyingly close eye of Renesmee. He even told her that he was willing to put everything aside and allow them to openly see each other again if they agreed to one condition. I remember him pulling the same move with me when I wanted to become a vampire. It looked like Nessie somehow genetically inherited my distaste for the "M" word. Until they do, however, Edward can't even look at a picture of Jake without going into a blind rage, which in the end only strained his relationship with his daughter. For me, it seemed more cruel than anything, seeing as it was already over and done with. No changing what already happen, so what was the point of trying to bargain now?

"I understand how you feel, Edward. Really I do, but don't you remember when we were young? I seem to remember someone sneaking into my room every night."

He gave me a blank stare, trying hard to hide his dissatisfaction. "We never did what they do…"

I could help by smirk lightly. "Not for lack of trying, at least on my part."

Edward opened his mouth to say something in retort but stop himself and turned his attention to the door at the other end of the room. He looked like he was concentrating hard to hear something that I, myself, couldn't. He let out a loud sigh as the sound of the front door of the house opened followed by the sound of bare feet gracefully gliding across the hardwood floor downstairs. The one walking into the house was clearly in a good mood. I could tell because the sweet melody that the person was producing, casting a joyful echo throughout the house. But why would Edward turn his attention toward Nessie now? Sure enough, I got my answer as the sweet hum was interrupted by an equally beautiful, yet course voice. The two voices started to go back and forth, arguing and screaming in a tone that sounded like they where going to kill each other.

'You're not my keeper, Rosalie, I can do what I want!'

'That doesn't matter, Renesmee. Not only are you worrying your parents and everyone that ACTUALLY loves me, your risking your life by being around that mutt and his pack of mongrels!'

'You have no idea what you're talking about! Jacob loves me and I love him. He would never hurt me!'

'Stop being so naive, Nessie!'

'Stop acting like you're my mother! Who I spend my time with is my business!'

A series of loud thuds signified Nessie storming off up the stairs to her room.

'Don't you use that tone with m- Hey! Young lady, come back here!'

Then came the slam of her door, the wood hitting against the frame so hard that it shook the house. Edward and I let out a deep sigh as we started to contemplate what to say.

I looked over at Edward. "I really wish that Rosalie would leave the parenting to me and you."

"That just how she is, there's no changing her. But still, I know exactly how she feels. She's just thinking about Nessie's safety."

"Yeah, like the time when you dismantled my car so that I couldn't go to La Push?"

"Like I said, I understand how she feels"

I stood up and started to put my clothes on. "In any case, I don't think we could stop her from going to see Jake even if we wanted to." I walked over to Edward and placed my hand on his warm cheek, leaning down and placing my forehead on his. "She has the same unrelenting persistence of her father."

Edward lifted his hand to mine on his cheek. "And the same irrational thinking of her mother." He smiled loving, staring deeply into my eyes as his lips tenderly against mine. He broke the kiss before I had the chance to wrap my arms around his neck and pull him in closer. "Enough worrying about Nessie and Rosalie for now, there are other matters that are far more terrifying than those two fighting."

That right. Tomorrow was the 23rd of September; a day that I knew all to well would arrive. Once again, I would have to put up with yet another first day of school. Oh joy, another chance to relive the drama and awkwardness that was high school.


	3. Chapter 3: Patience

I walked down the stairs, Edward at my side, down to the entrance area of our new home, which used to belong to Tanya's house before they moved out a few years ago. Everyone was already waiting for us in the foyer by the time we got there. No matter how long you live, you never truly loss the feeling that family brings you. How I could wake up every morning knowing that they would always be there for me. The only difference was that my families faces never changed, which I considered a plus. In the corner, Rosalie, just as elegant as she always looked, was leaning against Emmett. I could tell that she was deep in thought because her forehead was scrunched up and that only happened when she was either upset or contemplating something. At that moment, it looked like she was a little bit of both. Even few seconds I could see her looking through her peripheral vision to sneak a peek at Renesmee, whom was talk with Alice. Its strange how different, yet the same Nessie was from Edward and I. Her personality and attitude resembled something like mine, yet at times she was more stoic and intuitive, like Edward. The one thing, however, she didn't get from either of us was what her dear Aunt Alice bestowed upon her.

Nessie spoke to Alice, playing with her hair as she spoke. "Thanks, again, for taking me out shopping yesterday, I really needed a new wardrobe from the new year." She smiled pleasantly.

Alice smiled and hugged Nessie. "Anything for you, hun. It's not like I can ever get you mother to- Oh! Bella, good morning!" She looked over at me with an innocent smile, knowing full well that not only did I hear what she said, but that she intended for me to.

I smiled at her as I exited the staircase. "Good morning, Alice. And just so you know, it's not the shopping that I dislike, it's being dragged through every department store and not being allowed to buy the clothes that I actually like."

Alice pouted and puffed out her cheeks, crossing her arms across her chest. "It's not my fault that you don't know what's best for you. I'm always the one who has to make those decisions for you."

"Sure, Alice, whatever you say. You know me best." I said in a slightly sarcastic tone. I then turned my attention to Nessie, who was already greeting her father good morning with a hug. It didn't take a psychic to tell that he was still uncomfortable with the Nessie situation, but in the interest of keeping the piece, he let it go. At least, for now.

He lightly kissed her on the forehead giving her a warm smile that gave me a small ray of hope that things would be alright. "Good morning, my angel…I hope you got all the rest you needed because now I'm bolting your windows shut." The entire time he was speaking, he continued to smile warmly, not a hint of malice in his voice. My mouth opened a little bit in surprise as I felt the tiny ray of hope whither away, a tiny voice in the back of my head telling me that I should have known.

Renesmee's eyes opened wide as her face went from expressionless, to deeply hurt, and finally resting on anger. She pushed herself away from her father and ran straight out the door, tears in her eyes. I turned to Edward with a look that I could only equate to how I looked at him when he tried to stop me from hunting after I was just turned.

"Nice, very mature Edward. Father of the year material even."

Alice turned and followed after Renesmee, Jasper right behind her. "I'll go talk to her. The last thing we need is a depressed vampire on the first day of high school." She gave Edward a look similar to mine before she and Jasper ran out the door.

At this point, Emmett was covering his mouth, trying to cover up the fact that he was suppressing laughter. Rosalie elbowed him in the side, but it didn't help. "Who needs cable when I can watch all this drama for free?"

Edward looked over at me, just noticing the expression on my face, making him a little uneasy. "I know, I know. I'm cruel; I'm worse than Charlie; I need to let her make her own mistakes. But that girl still has a lot of growing to do, and I'm her father, not her friend."

Rosalie couldn't help but chime in, as she always did. "Exactly. Bella, you really need to stop all this new-age mother-daughter-BFF crap. It's not helping the situation at all."

Edward side glanced at her. "Neither is your interference in OUR daughter's life."

My hands curled into fists of anger as a stared at both of them. "Rosalie, next time you want to give ME parenting advice, I suggest you go out a steal a little girl for yourself, that way you can raise her to be the same perfect little angel that you are. And as for you," I started to walk forward and out the door, still addressing Edward. "I suggest you learn how to sleep from now on, because you're in for the loneliest nights of your life." I walked out the door, hearing Emmet break out into laughter as I leave.

"Hey, bro, if you get too lonely, I'll lend you some of my 'reading material'. I don't think I'll be needing it, seeing as I'm the only one gettin' any action tonight."

I walked out to the garage and spotted the red Azure Tiger Ferrari that Alice bought for me a few Christmases earlier. To be perfectly honest, I kind of missed the days when I was satisfied with just getting a pair of socks. I walked over to it and leaned gentle against the side, careful not to make in a dent on the exterior of the fragile car. Edward, Rose, and Emmett walked out a few moments later, Emmett still chuckling under his breath a little. Edward walked to the other side of the car without saying anything to me until I spoke up.

"You can ride with chuckles over there, I'm waiting for our daughter to come back and I don't think she'll want to ride with you until one of you cools down." I kept my head straight forward as I delivered what I wanted to say to Edward. I hated that it had to be like this, but everyone seemed to be in a cantankerous mood today. I heard Edward let out a small sigh then walk back around the car. He stopped in front of me, my head down, looking at his brown shoes. I felt his warm hand touch my chin lightly and raise my head until my line of vision connected to his. He stared deep into my eyes with a look that made me understand where he was coming from. I had forgotten how hard everything must be for him and how the situation made him feel. His eyes showed me just how much he cared for not only me and Renesmee. Even after 150 years of being vampires, he was still trying to protect us, the things that he loved more than anything. I wrapped my arms around his waist and pulled myself into his body, my head resting lightly on his chin. I could feel his neck vibrate as he spoke to me.

"Please don't be upset. I know everything is less than ideal right now, but you know just as well as I do why I'm doing this. I wouldn't be who you fell in love with if I was anything less." I tilted my head up to look directly into his rich, topaz eye. I leaned up just as he moved his face down, letting our lips touch for a brief moment. He let the kiss continue for a few more seconds before pulling away and kissing me softly on the forehead. "Talk to her for me. I don't want her to hate me like this."

I looked up at my beautiful husband. "She doesn't hate you, Edward. She's just trying to figure things out for herself, just like you're doing for us." A placed my hand on cheek. "Don't worry; she's still our little girl. Nothing is going to change that."

"Sometimes I feel like she's more yours than mine."

"Genetics suck, I know."

"No…" He placed a hand on her hand on his cheek. "I wouldn't have either one of you any other way."

If I still had any blood left in my veins, my heart would be beating out of control as my face turned scarlet. Edward always new the right thing to say. He kissed my hand before turning and getting into the backseat of Emmett's car, where Rosalie was already in the passenger seat. Emmett was standing with the driver door open, looking like he was about to die from laughter.

I flashed him an annoyed glare at him. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just noticing that your guys' 'agreements' always seem to end the same way."

He chuckled again then he got into his jeep and closed the door. With a loud roar his engine started followed swiftly by Emmett backing up and driving away. I hated to admit it, but the fact was that Edward did more than often win agreements by pulling out the charm card. Not to say that he always won. I had a few of cards of my own saved away from a rainy day.

A few minutes later, Alice and Jasper returned with Renesmee right behind them. Alice graceful danced her way over to me in her normal, peppy way as Jasper silent walked behind her. She looked around to see that Emmett's jeep was gone.

"Did they leave already?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I thought it was best to stick around for you. Edward went along ahead with Rose and Emmett."

Alice smiled and danced over to the drivers' side of the car. "So do you want me to drive so you two can 'talk'?"

I looked over at Jasper with a slightly pleading on my face, to which he smiled and walked over to Alice.

"Maybe I should drive. I think that Bella would like a ride a little less hazardous."

Alice puffed her cheeks again and pouted. "Fiiine."

She walked around to the passenger seat as me and Nessie climbed into back of the car. The engine started and Jasper took off out of the garage, speeding in the direction of the school. There wasn't really anything wrong with Alice driving, but at the time I wanted a more calming ride, which Jasper was more than capable of providing. I looked over at my daughter and held out my hand for support.

"You want to 'talk' about it?"

She was a little hesitant at first, but then she turned to me, her eyes looking a little forlorn and hurt. I reached over and took her into my arm, running my hand up and down the top of her back.

"There, there, it's okay. I know how your father can be when he's being over-protective, but he really does love you."

Nessie let herself sink into my arms as she placed a hand on mine, causing images and sensation to flow into my mind like a fast pace slide show. Ever since she was born, Renesmee had the ability to transfer her own thoughts and memories into the minds of whomever she touched, even into mine, which was usually protected by my shield. Over the years, however, she became more aware of the nature of her ability and developed it to the point that she could not only transfer her thoughts, but also her emotions and even the physical sensations that she felt.

The images and feelings that Nessie had felt last night swept through my minds eye in a mere fraction of a second. She was intentionally vague about recalling the details of what happened so that I didn't have to see the exact nature of what she and Jacob were doing. Quite frankly, I'm glad that she did. I may have not been as quick-tempered as Edward when it came to Nessie, the last image I wanted to see was of my daughter with a man who was supposed to be my best friend. As the images progressed, I started to understand the events that had taken place the night before. After Edward and I had gone to bed, Nessie waited until the right moment and snuck out of the house. After that, she proceeded to run the fifty miles over to Nelchina where Jacob and his pack had built their home. Thinking back on it, the entire situation with us moving from place to place probably put a major strain on Jake's pack, which had grown by a few members over the years. Jake was careful to set up his territory in an area that was far enough away from Edward that he wouldn't be able to read his mind, but close enough to Renesmee if she ever needed him. Seth, who had grown up to resemble Jake in a lot of ways, always thought of moving around as an adventure and enjoyed meeting people wherever he when. Leah on the other hand…well she acted like she always did to these kinds of situations: in begrudging discontent. After spending time with everyone in the pack, Renesmee and Jacob went to bed together and just cuddled the entire night. I opened my eyes and looked over at Nessie.

I leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "You could have just said that to your father. He doesn't care so much about just the two of you spending time together."

Nessie let out a sigh and leaned back into her seat, looking out the window. "He wouldn't have cared. He never does. I know he's just trying to look after me, but still…" She turned back to me. "Mom, I'm over 50 years old and I still can't make decisions for myself. How is that fair?"

"And your father is over 150, so he has a little more experience in this area." I reached out and lightly brushed the hair out of her face and behind her ear. "Trust me, I know exactly how you must feel. He put me in the exact same situation back when I first started hanging out with Jake, but eventually he came around. He'll get better, I promise. But it's your job to try and make him understand how you feel, and you're not going to do that by sneaking out of the house in the middle of the night. Just be patient, okay?"

Renesmee didn't say anything for a few seconds before she turned back to me, a beautiful smile trying to form itself on her face. "Okay…"


End file.
